


The Divines Above

by S1lv3rS0ul



Category: Girl Meets World
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, Angst, F/F, The God AU no one asked for, possibly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-23
Updated: 2016-10-07
Packaged: 2018-08-10 15:38:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7851061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/S1lv3rS0ul/pseuds/S1lv3rS0ul
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Divines we call them. We also call them Gods or Goddesses. What are the chances we are ever going to meet them? We never know. We probably do know that they have loved in different ways, romantically, platonically and sexually.</p><p>Maya and Riley loved each other so dearly, but neither knew until tragic struck and only one lived. Their next meeting wouldn't be simple at all.</p><p>God AU no one asked for (I SAW IT IN A DREAM OKAY)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Back to the Past

**Author's Note:**

> Seriously, this au just popped up in my dreams and it was very good. Like so good, I wanted to remember it after waking up and plot a story based on this au.  
> Hope you Enjoy first chappy!

Gods and Goddesses, humans have assumed that they were of a higher power. Humans have worshipped these 'higher beings' for thousands of years, given them gifts and prayed to them. What if these beings simply lived among the humans? have bumped shoulders with them? talked with them? In this universe, these what ifs were probably more true and false and the same time.

The gods and goddesses were very uncommon in the streets nowadays, especially in New York City. The so-called unnatural beings that roam the human inhabited Earth is more common than any human would have thought, so it would be no surprise that the Divines are also among us living the same as us.

These Divines are capable of 'dying'. Their bodies can heal greatly but they can only do so much. However, It is only their physical body that dies, their spirit remains with memories from their previous experience, roaming the mortal realm seeking for their next physical body. Most of the times, the people reborn as Divines have a striking resemblance to their Divine reincarnation. The host is unaware of course, and most of the Divines -few are opposed- would not force the host to live as an immortal being.

/-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\

Rain in New York City were frequent. Grey clouds rolled over above the skyscrapers and rain dropped upon the city. Bustling crowds on the streets carrying umbrellas, placing unfortunate bags over their head and shielding themselves with their jackets from the watery doom.

Maya Hart was used to this, all she had to do was ignore the rain drops landing on her umbrella, the sound of the impact was all her ears could receive. One pale hand covered the handle and another stuffed within her jacket pockets, clutching an object inside.

_"Hey Maya!, didn't figure that I would find you in the art room." The brunette giggled at her own joke. The blonde rolled her eyes with a grin as she continued to finish what she was painting._

_The brown-haired girl laughed at Maya's reaction to her joke, the blonde smiled. "Whatcha doin'?" the brunette asked while twirling a maple leaf around her hand._

_"Just painting a masterpiece." Maya slyly smirked at the brunette. The latter squeaked and blushed at the comment and made an attempt to cover her red face. The blonde laughed._

The 18 year-old blonde sighed then ran her previously pocketed hand through her golden mane while descending down the subway tunnel. Her mind occupied by her past, her once bright past. Now, grey clouds blocked the sunshine from ever reaching to her.

Her phone buzzed. Taking it out of her pocket, she opened the message. It was one of her friends, Farkle.

_**FarkleKnowsitall: We're at the coffee shop. You going to be okay?** _

_**MayaBadassHart: I'll be fine** _

With the umbrella under her arm, phone in one hand, her eyes gazing at the screen while her other hand clutched at the bouquet of flowers in her pocket. She waited for the subway train to come by so that she could get this over with. The blonde girl gazed around the platform, catching a glimpse of the underworld guardian stalking off unnoticed by the people around them. The guardian looked over his shoulder as if he had sensed her gaze, then smiled genuinely at the blonde before stalking off into the crowd, disappearing.

Maya's gaze remained at the spot where he had disappeared, the sound of the train making her tear her gaze away from the spot. The train approached the platform, slowing down to a stop. After it had halted, the doors slid opened with a hiss, passengers exited the train and the people from the platform entered.

Maya kept her umbrella tucked under her arm where people would not get stabbed by the object, her hand in the pocket still gripping on the flowers as if it depended on her life. She held onto the pole as she felt the train beginning to move. She kept her eyes trained on her shoes -or floor- refusing to lift up her head, refusing to make eye contact with anyone. She gripped the pole tightly, tears threatening to spill. She shouldn't be showing her emotions in public or else it'll end up badly.

 

_"RILEY?" Flames licked at the edges of Maya's skin, keeping a strong grip on her spear, she had hoped that the brunette did not get hurt. The others had not been badly hurt and were now out of danger, but she had not seen the brunette since the start of the attack and her mind had come to the worst conclusion._

_Blue piercing blue eyes narrowed as she spotted a shadowed silhouette behind all the smoke that had been clouding the area. The blonde wielded her spear and stalked towards the shadow, what she had expected was the attacker standing there, just waiting for the flames to just burn everything. What Maya didn't expect was another silhoutte appearing, except this one was lying on the ground, unmoving._

_The blonde's heart seized, hoping the lying figure wasn't who she thought it was. Maya gritted her teeth and cautiously approached the standing figure, who was towering over the unmoving one._

_As the blonde moved closer towards the two figures, the black smoke had cleared away, revealing who the two figures were. Her heart dropped. Her eyes turned steel and glared murderously at the attacker._

_"Charlie." She whispered, venom lacing that one word._

_As if sensing the venom towards him or hearing the whisper, the mentioned looked up with a smug smirk, taunting her. He turned towards her and wielded his flaming sword before dashing towards the blonde, an aura of arogance surrounding him. The young blonde did the same, but her anger and determination fueling her attacks._

_Thunder clapped and lightning pierced the once heavenly sky, then the rain arrived in full force extinguishing the surrounding fires. Maya had been winning the fight and she knew that once the rain had started, she had the total upper hand._

 

 

The rain had been reduced into a drizzle, the blonde didn't bother to shield herself from the very light pour because she thought, 'It didn't matter that much'. She opened the door to the cafe 'Topanga's' one of the safe places she knows. One of the workers, Katy Hart her 'mother', looks up at the chime of the bell above the cafe door and smiles widely at the sight of the young woman.

"Hello, Maya." she greeted. "Did you get what you need?"

Maya smiled tiredly at the woman, "Yeah..." she said trailing out. She bites her lip before looking at her jacket pocket where the flowers where stashed, she allowed the smile to drop after looking at Katy. "I'm just tired." She then placed her hand on the counter.

Katy looked at her worriedly then placed her own hand on top of the younger one, she comforted the young blonde by rubbing her thumb back and forth. Maya smiled gratefully at the gesture, Katy had always been her mother figure even after all these years.

"The others are upstairs if you need them." Katy said. The younger of the two nodded her head before pulling her hand away then walked towards the stairs.

_"No no no no!" The drenched blonde kneeled before the 'dying' brunette and gathered her up in her arms, not caring that she would be covered in her blood. Tears pricked at her eyes, blurring her vision slightly. Charlie had fleed, his ego probably beaten down after defeating him._

_Riley coughed, turning into a gurgle at the end. "Hey Peaches... You did it." She gave the blonde a bloodied smile, before coughing again. "Maya... I should probably say this now." She gave her a painful smile. The brunette had a large gash on the right side of her torso, healable but so much blood had already been spilled._

_"No no, you're g-going too live through this Riley. J-Just hold on, we're going to get you to the healer." The blonde began to lift the brunette up, not caring about the bloody mess at the moment._

_The latter shook her head, sorrow and regret filling her voice, "P-peaches... It's probably way too late for me." This time, her coughing splattered blood on the blonde's armour, Maya didn't care for that though, her beloved was dying. The brunette cupped the blonde's cheek, staining it with her blood. Riley made weak attempts to wipe the tears trailing down Maya's cheek. "I just wanted to say that... I love you Peaches..." Her eyes began to steadily close._

_Riley's hand was threatening to fall from Maya's cheek, but the blonde refused to release her hold on it. "No no, Riley. Don't" The blonde's heart racing at a mile a minute. Hoping all of this was a dream, but silence filled the area._

_"DAMNIT RILEY...wake up" Her protests carried across the area. Hunching over her beloved's body, she let her all her tears break free. Heart-wrenching sobs were heard throughout the landscape, that was what everyone else had come to when they arrived at the scene._

_That was when everyone had felt it. Maya tensed up as she sensed the spirit of the goddess leave the physical body, everyone had sensed it. The blonde clutched tightly on the body, pulling it closer to her, afraid that the goddess would one day never return to her arms again._

 

Each step was agonizing for Maya, each creak of each step continued to ring in her ears. Tears welled up in her eyes, but before they could fall, she would wipe her eyes with the sleeve of her jacket. She glanced down at her hand and noticed that it was slightly trembling. She finally reached the top step and just stood there, taking deep breaths. Walking down the hallway, her eyes trained ahead of her. To unobservant people, they would describe her as brave and strong. If they looked closer to the eyes, they were filled with pain, guilt, sorrow and fatigue. She approached the last door on the left, it was only for 'authority' to enter through, but she was one of those 'authorities'.

Opening the worn out oak door, she was met by an ordinary looking room, couch around the middle of the room, a small kitchen and a small hallway towards left, but she knew better. She stalked down the hallway and opened an intricate designed door. The blonde gulped, inhaled deeply then gently opened the door.


	2. Meetings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meetings were always a surprise, Maya did not expect it. Even her friends didn't expect it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I typed early, I really do hope you guys are liking this.  
> Enjoy the second chappy!

Maya squinted her eyes due to the sudden increase of brightness through the doorway, she blinked multiple times, waiting for her eyes to adjust. She walked through and had closed the door behind her, knowing that the others are already inside.

The blonde turned around and was greeted by an amazing view, she didn't pay attention to it though, she was used to it and had lost interest after Riley had died. Green hills scattered the landscape, grass swayed with the wind, birds gracefully flew in the skies, white fluffy clouds passed by and tamed animals roamed around, frolicking.

Maya walked on the grey stoned bricked walkway, kicking a few pebbles along the way. She ignored her surroundings, she refused to gaze around because they reminded her way too much of Riley, when the brunette would run across the fields and the way she would talk about the animals she encountered even if they were predators when they visited here. The blonde felt like she was being mocked whenever she dared to look around, they taunted her about how she didn't save Riley, how she failed to protect the one person she vowed to protect and loved the most.

Running a hand through her hair, she automatically turned right at a split up path, the left sign pointing down to the 'Great Hall' and the right pointing down to the 'Magical Forest'. None of them had named the vast forest that, it was all Riley's doing, she had insisted that they name it the 'Magical Forest' and the name stuck thanks to the brunette. Maya tearfully smiled at the memory, remembering Riley's victory smile and dance after the name had stuck.

Maya slowed down when she had noticed that when she looked up she would see an arch designed with flowers, no letters just flowers engraved on the stone arch. Shaking her head, the blonde continued her previous pace and followed the ongoing walkway.

By the entrance of the forest, she was met by the others, they stood around chatting with each other and some sat on the chairs nearby. Her close friends looked up upon realising that Maya had arrived, they all noticed her tired form from where they were and gave her a reassuring smile. They all approached her, but Farkle was the first one to arrive in front of her and he accompanied her walk towards the certain entrance of the forest.

Farkle took a quick glance at Maya, a worried expression plastered on his face. "You sure you'll be alright going there alone?" he asked with concern.

Maya released an irritated sigh, they had stopped in front of the entrance. "I'm okay Farkle."she answered while glancing up at the apple tree by the walkway.

The boy cautiously placed a hand on her shoulder, the blonde tensed before calming down after reminding herself that it was just Farkle. "We'll be here when you need us." he assured her while also motioning to the their other friends that had just arrived. Maya smiled gratefully at the others then Zay had engaged the group hug which everyone happily followed.

 

Here she was, after the hug session her friends allowed her to enter the forest. Now, she stands in front of a well taken care gravestone surrounded by multiple types of flowers. Vines and weeds never seem to crawl up the gravestone as if they know not to touch something that was once precious. Maya brushed away a few leaves off the stone slab in front then brushed at the ground before sitting in front of the grave. The young woman sat crossed legged, her eyes scanning the grave in front of her before landing on the engraved letters.

 **RILEY GODDESS OF NATURE**  
**_Loved by many. May she roam peacefully._ **

Tears pricked at Maya's eyes, she let it all fall, this was the only placed where she would release all her emotions. She wiped her tear-stained cheek then rummaged through her jacket pockets, taking out a small sunflower and a small bouquet of Forget-Me-Nots then placing them down on the empty stone slab. Maya bit her lip as she leaned back, her arms behind her supporting her weight, she wracked up her brain for something to say but was too afraid she would just burst after getting just a few words in.

"Hey Riles..." The blonde started, "I'm sorry if I haven't been visiting for the past few weeks. There were some problems with the underworld so Josh and Shawn needed some help. I don't even know why they needed help from the goddess of art, plus pretending to do life sucks." Maya chuckled. Even if she was the goddess for arts, she was well trained in combat, although the problem in the underworld didn't require fighting to solve.

Maya ran her hand through her hair for the third time today, her other hand picking at the grass growing around, her eyes started to tear up yet again. "I-It's just so hard y'know?" The blonde began to tremble, "T-These past 4 y-years are so difficult to deal with ever since you..." She didn't want to finish the sentence.

"I j-just wish you were here with me, just ra-rambling beside me, making me laugh and you just being a g-goofball." Maya could feel her tears trailing down her face, she clenched her fist tighter. "F-fuck, I mean the other douchebag gods made stupid ass comments at you. It took Lucas, Zay and Josh to hold me back from attacking them right there." She attempted to hold back a sob but had failed to, she aggressively wiped at her tears, determined to make up for not visiting for a while. Maya gazed down. locking her eyes on her green-stained and dirt filled hands.

"I just don't understand Riles. Why? Why didn't you let me save you?"

" _Because Peaches, my time was up that time._ "

Maya had never looked up so fast in her life, she even thought she heard her neck snap at the quick motion, but she didn't care though, there in front of her, floating, was a purple ethereal shape. The spirit -Maya assumes- lack any facial features but the blonde knows that voice anywhere. Maya gulps, pushing her voice to say something, anything.

"H-honey? Is t-that yo-u?" The blonde tries not to tear up at the sound of a tinkling bell that sounded like the spirit was chuckling or giggling.

" _Yes Peaches, it's me. I've missed y- no no don't cry Peaches._ " 'Riley' comforted. " _I'm here now Maya. I'm here._ " The purple spirit placed its arms around the blonde as if it was hugging her. Maya couldn't hold it in any longer, she allowed all the held up tears to fall. They stayed in a hugging position for quite a while with the blonde's sobbing the only thing they could hear.

The spirit pulled away from the embrace, and stared at Maya's red face for a while before bringing a hand up to wipe the tears away. The blonde could feel warmth radiating from the hand, it brushed against her face then pulled away again and Maya missed the warmth already.

"W-wha h-how-"

" _Listen, Maya I don't have much time here, but don't EVER kill yourself over what happened, okay?_ "

"But-"

" _No buts, we'll meet again soon Maya._ " With that, the spirit cupped both of the blonde's cheeks and the 'Riley' began to fade.

"Wait!" Maya began to desperately yell. "DON'T LEAVE ME AGAIN RILEY!" The young woman started to stand and lean towards the fading spirit, she froze when the latter had fully disappeared. Maya's figure began to quiver as she dropped, kneeling on the ground. She sat down, and began to bring her legs up to her chest and sobbed on her arms.

"Riley," She sobbed, her body was shaking so much and what didn't help was the fact that her body began to grow cold from the lack of warmth that had radiated from the spirit. She sat there filled with grief and numbness and cried in front of the grave.

 

Maya exited out of the forest with red eyes and a tired expression, she was on the verge of collapsing yet she kept going on. Her friends rushed at her with worried and alarmed faces then bombarded her with multiple question or asking her if she's okay.

"Nothing happened, I just couldn't hold it." She answered, brushing off the questions for she didn't have the energy to answer the other questions if she told them that Riley's spirit had come to her. She walked to one of the chairs and sat down on it, she craved for some time by herself, but she knew that she shouldn't worry her friends. She placed her head on her heads, thinking back on what the hell happened back at the forest, Riley's spirit returning gave her a little bit of hope though, a little.

Farkle knew that the young blonde was acting weird and had kept giving Maya side glances when he knew that she won't notice. Whenever the blonde would visit Riley's grave she would straight up leave the place, she never stayed for long because the sight of nature reminder her of the happy times, this was the reason why she wasn't frequently visiting the 'Haven' anymore.

So this was a weird sight for Farkle and the others -if they noticed the odd behaviour- to see, Maya slumping on a chair, face buried within her hands.

"What's wrong Farkle?" Lucas had approached the slightly shorter boy, noticing that he had been staring at Maya with a look that always said that he was thinking and that says alot considering Farkle is the god of knowledge.

"Huh? Oh...nothing's wrong, just thinking again." He answered, shaking his head. Lucas wasn't convinced in the slightest, but he had let it go because 1. This was Farkle, he always thinks and 2. There is a good reason why he's thinking.

The taller of the two also noticed that Maya had been acting oddly ever since she left the forest, but he had never thought of it, he just figured that the blonde was exhausted, between the work and the repeating problems at the underworld, that had seemed the best bet. Right now, he's beginning to doubt that thought as he stares at Maya's slumping form.

 

Maya rode back home on the subway with Smackle, Farkle, Zay and Lucas towards their shared home, the house was huge to fit multiple people and they shared it because they figured that it was better than having a random human living with one of them. Better to be safe than sorry they say.

Smackle and Farkle were whispering in each others ear, they look like they were on a disagreement about something and they were secretly glancing at something on the middle of the train they were in. Maya ignored them, she assumed that they were talking about something she wouldn't even understand in one bit. Zay was too busy looking at his phone, laughing quietly to himself, possibly one of those memes again and Lucas, Lucas looked bored. He trained his gaze ahead, watching the outside view -if you could call subway tunnel walls a view- pass by.

They all waited for the train to arrive at their stop but it seemed like hours had passed ever sinced they boarded the train. Finally, the train slowed to a stop and the doors opened with a hiss, indicating that they were allowed to leave the vehicle.

As they were stepping on the platform, Lucas placed a comforting hand on Maya's shoulder, "Hey, you okay?" He asked, wanting to know if the blonde girl was okay like she had been insisting since this morning.

Maya spun around and began to walk backwards while glaring at Lucas for the question, "Yes Lucas, I'm fine." she snapped with a defending tone. The god of war placed his hands up in a surrender.

' _How Ironic_ ,' he thought, seeing the situation where the god of war surrendered.

The blonde girl continued to walk backwards, unaware that she was about to collide against someone who was on their phone.

"Maya look out!"

The blonde spun around to look out but it was too late, she already collided with the person. Maya stumbled at the force of the impact but the girl was falling backwards, it looked like everything was in slow motion but Maya had quick reflexes and had quickly grabbed the arm and pulled the girl towards her. Maya's blue eyes widened when her brain registered the face in front of her.

  
Meanwhile, the brown-haired girl blushed as she realised that they were in a dipping position. After clearing her throat, she began to release herself from their awkward hold -she had liked it though- and began to stand up. She felt her face warm up upon realising that the beautiful short blonde in front of her was looking at her in disbelief with wide piercing blue eyes.

The brunette gazed behind the blonde and her company of four people, a brown-haired girl who was sporting glasses, a boy with dark brown hair that was swept up, a taller boy with brown hair and green eyes and a dark skinned boy with curly hair had open jaws and wide eyes, their eyes saying the same emotion, disbelief.

"I..um..better go." She pointed at the exit of the subway, she started to turn towards it when she felt a warm hand grab at her wrist, warmth shot up on her arm as soon as they touched again. She turned her head towards the open jawed strangers and her warm brown eyes met piercing cold blue ones, it had taken the girl a moment to register what the blonde in front of her was saying.

"Can I at least know your name?"

The brunette looked at her in surprised, out of all the questions, she didn't expect one that asked for her name. The blonde held her questioning gaze on the brunette, so she switched her gaze towards the floor and answered the question.

"Uh...My name's Riley," she told them, if the strangers' eyes could widen even further, they just did. She continued.

"Riley Matthews."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes are mine. My fault.  
> Criticism and Input is very much appreciated.


	3. Questions, Questions and More Questions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Questions come up and the thinkers answer them. But Maya begins to think that sometimes, the thinkers don't have all the answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uppie Chappy! I'm so sorry for all the stuff 'ere.
> 
> This AU might get confusing so I'll say it here.
> 
> Reincarnations don't remember that their past life were gods/goddesses. It might have to take a trigger or two for them to remember who they were, Riley's case might be special though.
> 
> Riley Matthews won't be any related to Topanga or Cory or Auggie (IM SORRY DONT KILL ME) But they'll form some familial bond. We'll probably know more about Riley's past soon, VEERRY SOON.

Riley stared at the strangers, who were still gaping at her and honestly it's a bit intimidating, before averting her gaze towards the hand that was still holding on to her wrist. Honestly, she liked the warm feeling shooting through her arm and the fuzzy feeling on the spot where the blonde's pale hand is grabbing her wrist. The blue eyes that were staring at her blinked, then looked down on her own hand. The blonde suddenly released Riley's wrist then blushed upon realising that she had been caught staring -Riley immediately missing the warmth- then stuffed her hands into her own jacket pockets.

Riley then realised that it wasn't fair that these strangers and the very beautiful blonde in front of her knows her name but she doesn't. Riley, upon registering that fact, began to subconsciously pout with her eyebrows furrowed then stared at the strangers with a serious expression although her going to be new friends thought that she looked more adorable than intimidating.

"Hang on," Riley caught the attention of the people in front of her, "You know? It's kinda not fair that you guys know my name but I don't know yours." She finished with a huff. The brunette didn't expect the next reaction from the strangers -NEW FRIENDS!- who were listening intentively. They snickered, it looked like they were trying very hard not to cry and laugh at the same time and they look relieved.

Riley stared at them in confusion, scrambling her own mind for answers on why they might be on the verge of crying and bursting from laughing. They took a moment, the one with swept up hair was hunched over, panting and trying to get air back into his lungs. The dark-skinned boy was wiping a fake tear from his eye as if a tear had escaped from his eye.

Riley huffed and crossed her arms in an attempt to appear indimidating but the blonde in front of her gave her an amused and a....longing? stare. The brunette sighed hopelessly, knowing that her attempt at scaring her new friends? was a failure.

It took the strangers a moment to compose themselves then finally, the blonde cleared her throat and began to speak.

"Name's Maya." she pointed to herself. "That one with glasses is Smackle."

"Greetings." Smackle nodded towards Riley.

Maya then pointed her thumb towards the one with swept up hair, "That's Farkle and next to him is Lucas." They waved then the blonde leaned towards Riley and whispered in her ear, "I call him Huckleberry or Ranger Rick." The brunette giggled at that with a slight blush in her face due to the close proximity of the two.

Maya leaned back away from the blushing brunette and pointed at the dark-skinned boy, "That, is-"

"Zay, m'lady." he bowed like a gentleman and grinned goofily at Riley. She placed her hand over her mouth to hide her amusement. Maya narrowed her eyes at Zay for his actions but the boy just grinned back at her.

Riley smiled so bright that it could compete with the sun, her eyes shone as brightly and that made Maya's heart ache so much that it was getting very difficult to breath, because that simple action reminded her of _her_ Riley. The blonde released a shaky breath and blinked a few times as she realised that the brunette put out a hand in front of her, she assumed that she wanted a handshake so Maya did that and accepted the handshake.

"Hey Maya, nice to meet you," Riley beamed, she turned towards the others and waved while still holding her hand, "And nice to meet you guys as well." Maya's heart pounded against her chest at the soft voice, the soft voice she knows too well. Maya noticed that she was staring and, ' _Oh god, its probably creeping her out._ ' She panicked and she panicked a bit more when she just realised that their hands were still clutching each other.

Riley released the handshake, ' _Wish we could have kept it longe- WAIT WHAT?!'_  Riley slightly shook her head, she didn't want to fall in love fast again, but she just did and holy hell did this one feel good. She thought deeper. She doesn't want another repeat of the Charles incid- no. No no no, she should stop thinking about it, it's all in the past, it won't come back.

The brunette in front of Maya began to shake as she looked down on the ground as if she was deep in thought, the blonde reached out slowly while the others stared on with concern etched in their faces, clearly noticing that Riley had begun to shake as well. Maya carefully touched Riley's arm but the brunette's reaction was surprising. She flinched visibly at the touch and the blonde quickly retracted her hand as if it burned her, Maya was beginning to feel guilty because she thought that she caused her to flinch.

Riley blinked back tears as she looked up, only to become aware that she was still standing in front of her newfound friends, she looked at Maya and her face has guilt written all over it, clearly from thinking that she caused Riley to flinch. The brunette started to explain quickly so that she could erase the guilty look on the blonde's face.

"Sorry about that, it's not your fault, really." Maya felt relieved that she wasn't the cause to the brunette's noticable pain, but she was still very worried that Riley was in pain in the first place. Riley continued what she said. "Wish we met up in better circumstances, I really have to go though." She began to run towards the exit but not before getting some last words in.

"Hopefully we'll meet each other again!" Then she's up and out of the subway.

Maya continued to stare at the exit. She sighed softly, ran her pale hand through her hair then spun around to face the others.

All of them need to talk to each other on what the hell just happened.

 

During the small walk back their home, Maya had fallen a step behind and kept glancing towards her hands, where there was warmth buzzing, just there. She kept thinking back on how Riley's voice sounded exactly like _her_ Riley. How it sounded, the way her eyes lit up, the beaming smile, her hand movements and even her small giggle. Maya thinks that this is it, this is what spirit Riley told her about meeting again, and dear god did she feel alive again. Then, _then_ Maya panics. What if she can't protect this one either? what if she dies again? what if she's not into girls? what if she doesn't want to love Maya?

The blonde gets irritated at her mind, she breathes in and out, in and out. Inhale, exhale. This is what her friends always tell her, she panics then she thinks too much. She doesn't disagree though, thinking is for Farkle and Smackle respectively. Maya then starts to have an another thought, ' _why did Riley begin to shake as if she was afraid? Did something happen to her in the past? Whoever hurt her will p-_ '

"Hey Maya! You gonna come in or are you gonna keep balling your fist 'till it bleeds?"

She glanced up and saw Zay by the doorway to their house, holding the door open like the gentleman he is. As Maya walked to the door, she gazed around the front lawn, reminding herself that she needs to paint the fence soon. She shakes her head as she remembers the day Zay, Farkle and Lucas threw paint balloons at each other for fun until they were hit by the thought that the fence was in an array of colours and the blonde would kill them all if she found out. She's never seen them so panicked over something so small.

' _Riley would definitely have enjoyed the colours..._ ' Her small smile dropped as she thought of the brunette.

Maya enters the house through the doorway, she hears Zay close the door before walking ahead of her towards the living room, or in this case, the meeting room. As she says meeting room in her head, she swears she just heard thunder from somewhere.

Maya hung up her jacket on a nearby coat rack and followed Zay into the meeting room. The rest were already discussing about the event that just happened. Lucas, Zay and Farkle were arguing about how Riley's death -Maya winced at that- and the age of the Riley they met today didn't correlate, didn't match up. Smackle sat beside Farkle, her eyes trained on the floor, her face scrunched up in concentration.

The blonde sat on a single sofa while the boys continued to argue.

"How is it that Riley Matthews' age doesn't match up with Riley, goddess of nature's death, huh?" The god of knowledge exclaimed, throwing up his arms in frustration. Farkle always depended on logic, scientific facts what humans would call it.

"Farkle! It doesn't make sense that _this_ Riley looks exactly the same as _our_ Riley," Lucas reasoned out, Zay nodded agreeing with what the god of war said.

"I'm going to agree with Lucas here, she looks like _our_ Riley."

During this whole discourse, Maya stared at the hands on her lap, still thinking about the buzzing warmth on the hand she grabbed Riley's wrist with. She wonders if the brunette had felt it too.

"What about you Maya?" The mentioned blonde looked up to find the three boys staring at her. "What do you think about this?" Farkle gestured his arms around as if he was pointing to the whole world.

Smackle was still gazing at the floor, still thinking, she probably blocked out everyone. Silence filled the room, the air so thick you could almost cut it with a knife. Then.

"She sounded....like _our_ Riley, she acted like _our_ Riley and she..." The blonde swallowed, "She felt like _my_ Riley." She whispered all of that softly, however the others heard it clearly.

The others remained silent at Maya's words, clearly she missed her best friend, her soulmate, her beloved. She felt conflicted, it should be obvious that the person was Riley, the Riley. At the same time, Farkle's words also made sense.

"Maybe it's possible." everyone whipped their heads towards the previously silent girl. Smackle gazed away from the floor and stared at everyone else, one by one. She slowly stood up while the others sat back down on their respective places. Smackle began to pace back and forth slowly in the middle of the room, mumbling to herself.

"There have been myths that when a god knows they will die, where they get that knowledge from? I don't know." The goddess of intelligence started to explain. "The god can then choose to start their next reincarnation soon or leave it until they 'die'."

"There might be a possibility that Riley knew when she would have died and decided to choose her next reicarnation earlier."

"But...where did she get the information from?" Farkle asked, impressed at the pacing girl.

"I...Not even I know."

Smackle sat back down, she finished explaining on what was on her mind a few moments ago. They all sat in silence, absorbing what was said.

 

After the meeting, they all went to their rooms, except for Maya. The blonde simply sat there in the same spot on the sofa even after the others departed. By thirty minutes she moved towards her art room, opened the door and closed it gently while keeping a firm grip on the doorknob.

She turned around and came face to face with a rather large painting of Riley twirling a maple leaf within her hands, close to it was a painting of peaches and next to that one was a painting of Riley planting an apple tree near the forest. The brunette looked happy while planting the tree, even if her hands were coated with dirt and grime.

Maya couldn't take it anymore, she collapsed in front of the door and sobbed. She sobbed and cried, she let her tears fall on her arms. Her heart had been ripped in two since Riley's funeral in 'Haven'. Seeing her spirit and her reincarnation today on the 4th death anniversary was too much for the blonde. All she wanted- no, all she needed was Riley, _her_ Riley to come back to her again.

Tears trailed down her cheeks as she thought about the lack of warmth within her heart and her frame trembled, but as she thought back on a chance to spend time with Riley again, she calmed down. The blonde wiped at her tears, she wanted to get to know _this_ Riley, become friends with her and possibly closer, protect her from whatever was bothering her earlier and...and enjoy her time with her. Hopefully Riley would also enjoy it and stay with her and accept her. Maya tried to fight back her sleepiness, but her eyes slowly shut and her quiet even breaths could be heard throughout the room.

This might be the first time Maya had slept the whole night peacefully, even if she was on the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh... I don't know what happened.


	4. Bad Days Happen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riley really doesn't want any trouble, sadly, she thinks the world hates her right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may or may not have rushed this. Maybe. I DONT KNOW OKAY.  
> Please tell me if this is okay. COMMENCE: CHAPPY 4.  
> Happy reading!

 

 

It had been two weeks since the group of divine friends visited their 'deceased' friend, two weeks since they encountered the next reincarnation, two weeks since they found Maya sleeping on her art room floor and two weeks since a ray of hope shone through the grey clouds of Maya's mind.

Maya and Farkle and Lucas had a shift at their friend's coffee shop, 'Topanga's'. The shop had been very popular for a while due to its 'homey' feel and great beverages. The service is also quite decent if you just ignore the current laughing and whispers somewhere behind the counter, most probably from the break room.

The three friends had been humoring themselves in the art of 'observing' people at a distance, so far they have seen a break up happen at the left side of the cafe, pretty harsh one too and hilarious, guy dumped a milkshake on the girl's head. A group of people were chatting about theories about what the gods or goddesses looked like if they existed, the god friends were having a hard time not to burst at that one. The last one was a guy who got scared by his friends and he had accidentally spilled his coffee on one of them, Lucas felt so sorry that he gave him another one for free and gave the one in pain, tissues.

The day was rather decent for them, they had afternoon shift and the rush hour is now long gone. Now Lucas mans the cashier, Farkle and Maya man the beverage making part, Topanga, the manager and owner of the place was somewhere in the back, probably busy with papers.

The interior of the cafe was quite warm and not chilly and breezy like the outside. They were occupied with their own thing, so they did not notice the bell chiming above the door, they assumed that it was only the wind messing with them again. The weather was a bit windy, it is currently October so it has happened a couple of times and whenever it occurred they looked up and they never saw anyone entering.

This time though they ignored the chime and continued to do what they were doing. however their assumption was wrong.

"Lucas?"

The boy gazed up quickly and so did his friends, they knew that voice. "Riley?"

"Yep! That's me." She chirped. "Didn't expect you guys to work here." The brunette said while glancing towards Maya whose mouth was slightly agape.

"Uh...yeah...we work here," He gestured to himself and the others. "So... We haven't seen you here before." He stated, they have actually never seen her anywhere before, even the others when he doesn't have the same shift as them, has never mentioned Riley entering here after they had met her.

"Actually my friend here," She pointed to the blonde girl beside her. "Darby here is one of my new friends, she pointed to this cafe here, because she said that it was all cozy and stuff." She explained, letting out a giggle at the same time. "And I'm all for cozy stuff!"

The brunette glanced at the far end of the counter, she then spotted Maya who was smiling at her. She waved back with a shy smile and a slight blush on her cheeks, the blonde's eyes widened at the response then shyly waved back then retreated.

"Riley here, wants some good hot choco with marshmallows and whip cream," Darby interrupted, Riley glared at the blonde. "I'll get some cinnamon mocha."

The duo paid for the beverages and headed towards the couch near the counter, Riley glancing to it every now and then, hoping that she would catch a certain blonde's eye. Darby beside her kept ranting about...something.

The two of them were expecting another friend of Darby's to arrive here at the cafe, the brunette hoped that the friend's arrival would divert Darby's attention away from her. It's not that Riley doesn't like her or anything, it's just that she's been dealing with so much stuff lately, but she appreciates how Darby has been trying to cheer her up though.

"Hot Coco! Cinnamon Mocha!"

Riley gazed up at the counter, she recognised the boy, Frackle? Frekle?...Farkle! that's it. He yelled out the orders with a slight glare at the blonde, Darby stood up to get the drinks from Farkle, mumbling with a 'be right back'.

The scene that Riley was staring at was a bit unusual, Darby and Farkle were in an argument? whispering fiercely at each other. Both were subtly glancing back at the brunette as they spoke to each other.

The door opened and Riley whipped around to inspect the newcomer, she became instantly confused, did Maya have a sister? The mentioned blonde was working behind the counter, maybe making some drink. Riley, with a shocked look, whipped her head back and forth. From Maya to the brunette girl, from Maya to the brunette girl.

Probably sensing someone staring at her, Maya looked up to see Riley whipping her head back and forth, the blonde stiffled a laugh as she watched the brunette get confused even further. Maya knows the newcomer of course, Sarah was one of the humans who knows the existence of the divines, and no, they are NOT sisters. She's been asked that far too many times.

Luckily for Riley, Darby had given her the hot coco and had beckoned Sarah to come over. The distracted brunette is now too busy savoring the sweet taste of the hot coco within her hands to even care about the similarities of the brunette -which Riley recalls Darby saying that her name was Sarah- and Maya. Riley doesn't even remember shaking hands with Sarah once she sat down on the couch, the sweet coco was too good to miss up on.

While Darby and Sarah were chatting up about something, Riley had moved to the opposite couch and sipped on the coco. When she felt the spot next to her dip, she peeked at her left and squeaked. She immediately darted her eyes to the right and felt her cheeks heat up. Riley peeked through her hair curtain and her blush deepened as she confirmed that it really was Maya sitting next to her.

They sat there in a surprisingly comfortable silence, not that Riley was complaining, the brunette sipping her coco, while the blonde tapped her pale fingers on her lap.

"Uhm...A-are on a break Maya?" Riley stuttered, the blonde nodded in response. The brunette placed her cup on the coffee table in front of them then placed her hand beside her. Riley, for some reason she doesn't even know, begins to slighty shake, her fist clenching tighter beside her. Her nails were biting into her hand, she was hardly noticing the pain though, it was as if she was in a trance.

Familiar warmth then started to register into her mind, she blinked, she eyed at the hand that was laying on top hers. She trails up the arm and it lands on a breathtaking face that is Maya. Riley's breath hitches at the sight of the hypnotising blue cerulean orbs, it was filled with concern.

There was something else in those orbs that Riley couldn't point out, it looked like it was there for some time. The brunette tried to scan the blue orbs, trying to find anything, a clue or something that was hidden in those blue depths.

A squeeze on her hand interrupts her train of thoughts. She smiles at Maya, hoping that it would silently reassure the blonde that she was 'okay'. Riley could see the small sigh escaping Maya's lips as she smiled. Maya smiled back.

A _loud_ forced cough broke their trance, the blonde glares at Sarah who was still forcing a very loud cough out from her mouth, beside her was Darby, attempting -and failing- to stop her laughter from escaping. Maya is still glaring murderously at the duo for disturbing their time.

Meanwhile, Riley sighs disappointedly at the current circumstances. She wished that her friends didn't interrupt such a beautiful moment and she also wished that she could spend more time with Maya, it was silly really, she has work right now, she really shouldn't be bothering Maya. That's what she thinks she is, a bother, to everyone.

Before Riley could head towards the giggling duo, Maya grabbed at Riley's wrist again, and dear god, the burning spark never lost its heat.

"Hey...if y'know, you want to hangout sometime, just uh...gimme a call." Maya was handing out her phone number at Riley. The brunette blinked, she examined the paper in front of her and she hesitantly took it. She didn't expect the blonde to hangout with someone like...her. She was stupid, reckless, boring and...useless.

She forced back her tears of happiness at such a simple gesture and grabbed at the paper. If she had looked up, she would have seen Maya's face light up like Christmas lights. Riley turned away from the blonde and headed towards her open-jawed friends, if she had gazed back at the counter, Riley would have also seen the open jaws and the disbelief look on the faces of Lucas and Farkle.

Maybe her day isn't so bad after all.

 

Okay, maybe the day is bad for Riley so far. After she was dropped off at her dorm room in NYU by her friends, she just wants to collapse on her soft bed. She was just thinking of going to Central Park and take a picture at some sceneries there, but no, the world decided to let rain fall thus ruining her plans to take some pictures.

Riley laid in her bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking back on how Maya felt. She feels like a safe place, she feels warm... she feels like home. She hugged the purple cat against her, all her homework's been finished so she has nothing to do. Just as her eyes were beginning to close, there was pounding at the door. It sounded like...

**"RILEY!"**

Her eyes widened in fear, her heart began to pound against her chest, her whole body started to shake. It's _him_ , he found her again, she doesn't know how he found out where she stayed, but she doesn't want an encounter with him. His thundering voice makes her shiver even more.

**"RILEY! I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE. LET ME IN!"**

She hastily stood up, quickly grabbed her bag, stuffed in the essentials and her purple cat. She also snatched a few of her school stuff inside the bag, seized hold of her raincoat at a nearby coat rack and started to gather up the remaining items she needs. The pounding at the door began to grow louder and rougher, it was as if he was- ' _shit_ ' Riley thought, he really is ramming himself against the door. The pounding grows harsher and louder and Riley can't take it anymore.

She collected her packed bags and opened up the window nearby, ' _Thank god for fire escapes._ ' She quickly slid the window open and stepped out of the room. she closed it once she was completely outside.

Riley climbed down the wet, metal stairs, hoping to the world that he doesn't figure it out. She hears him saying loudly, "Where's that _bitch_?" she winced at that, even through the rain and winds, it was audible. She wrapped her raincoat around her tighter.

Her feet stepped on the sidewalk, once that happened, Riley couldn't think of anything else but to run. To run away from _him_.

 

Riley Matthews allowed her own feet to carry her to somewhere safe, somewhere he won't know to find her. She ended up underneath a large apple tree somewhere in Central Park, she gasps and pants for breaths then she collapses against the tree.

Shaking hands zip open the bags that she carried, she needs to make sure that she has what she needs.

Wallet. Check. School Stuff. Check. Purple Cat. Check. Clothes just in case. Check. Camera. Check. Phone. Check.

Her sigh fogs against the cold temperature, it didn't matter though, she managed to avoid a nasty confrontation from Charles, she shivers in fear at the thought of him, what he could do to her.

She pulls out the phone from one of the pockets one of her bags, she unlocks it and scrolls through her contacts. She contemplates on calling Mrs. Spencer for help but decided against it, same goes for Darby. Riley's finger hovers over a name and she fights with herself.

' _What if she's working? What if she doesn't want to be bothered?_ ' Her mind screams at her and she listens, hesitantly returning the phone back into the pocket.

Her body becomes heavy, most probably from fatigue from running or from shock. She tries to fight the sleep coming to her, but she loses. Her eyes droop tiredly, the last thing she heard was a set of footsteps heading towards her.

"Shit... is that?"

"Oh Fuck, it is."

"Shut up you two! You idiots are going to wake her up."

"I'll carry her!"

"I'm stronger here I'll carry her!"

"Fuckin- you know what? I'll carry her since you two are busy fighting."

It's been some time Riley thinks, minutes? hours? She doesn't know, but a comforting soft voice makes her sleep peacefully.

"You're safe with me, no ones going to hurt you _ever_ again."

Riley unconsciously snuggles closer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually don't know what happened.
> 
> All grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes are mine. My fault.  
> Criticism and Input is very much appreciated.
> 
> Also, I'm so glad people are enjoying this.


	5. Rescue and Safety

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riley wakes up in a different room. That's the least of her problems, she has her former partner to worry about and the growing feelings for a certain blonde.
> 
> Maya doesn't think much of it, but she knows that something is bothering a certain brunette and all she wants to do is protect her. But how can she if the brunette isn't letting anyone in?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this kinda took so long. It's hard to find the right words.  
> Enjoy Chappy 5!

It was 7pm, Maya, Farkle and Lucas' shift had just finished, another employees are going to take over the next shift until 2am. They never understood why Topanga would let the shop stay open very late. The reason was always the same, the woman would say that they would be amazed at the number of people entering the shop late at night, exhausted and sleep deprived. The group of friends would always think that it was another reason, but her words may hold the truth in them.

The three friends left the warm, cozy cafe and as their luck would have it, it was raining. The downpour was incredibly strong, the streets were instantly soaked, passerbys were quickly trying to find coverage from the water. Most people had something to protect them from the rain, whether it's an umbrella, raincoat or even both. There must have been a warning from the weather channel that a harsh rain would fall upon the city, Maya hadn't seen the news for the weather, luckily Lucas and Farkle brought their umbrellas with them.

Maya snatched away Farkle's umbrella ignoring his protests of having his umbrella taken away from him. The blonde responded by turning her head over her shoulder and stuck her tongue out towards the boy, Farkle narrowed his eyes and snatched Lucas' blue umbrella.

"Hey!"

"Oh shut it pretty boy, we're sharing anyways." Farkle retorted, "Plus, I'm pretty sure Maya isn't sharing and you don't want to get soaked." He opened the umbrella and stood under the rain, waiting for Lucas to come in.

The god of war huffed, he had no choice, so he walked under the umbrella that the god of knowledge was holding up and both walked towards Maya, who was now ahead of them.

The blonde slowed down a step or two, wanting her friends to catch up with her. She slowed down enough to appreciate the raindrops a bit, then she stepped on the puddles laying down on the street, Maya could almost see her reflection in the puddle. She sighed as she already heard the bickering between Lucas and Farkle getting louder and she could only guess what they were arguing about this time. Last time was ships and planes, however as they approached Maya, she could hear what they were bickering about.

The faces of the two who were sharing were showered with raindrops as Maya twirled her umbrella to catch the attention of the boys behind her. She spun around to face them.

"Really? Brains or Brawn?" She questioned with a frustrated face, "That's so typical even for you both."

"Well..." Lucas trailed out, "If Farkle here agrees with me that Brawns are better than Brains, then I can let it go." He crossed his arms, clearly not willing to let the debate go without winning.

Farkle let out an exaggerated gasp as he heard the words come out of the 'Texan' boy. "How dare you!" He accused, "Brains will always be better than Brawn!" Then another round of their friendly dispute began.

The two who were quarreling kept following Maya through the rain, Lucas was mocking the shorter one by using his own words against him and Farkle was wildly creating gestures that he almost allowed the umbrella to leave his grasp and blow away with the wind. The blonde girl rolled her eyes at their disagreement, she, Smackle and Zay were quite used to Farkle and Lucas' antics, it was basically their hobby to argue about something, whether it be butterflies or birds, Mars or Venus, even blueberry pies or blackberry pies. It was all friendly banter between them though, so Maya has absolutely _nothing_ to worry about.

"I mean imagine a sword cutting through a book!"

Well...almost nothing.

"Uhh...no. If that book was thicker, then your stupid sword can't even slice through!"

"Nu uh, MY 'stupid' sword is probably sharper than your brain!"

Farkle gasps, taking mock offense at his words. "How dare you again! This brain is sharper than any of your melee weapons at your disposal!"

"Oh, boo hoo, don't use those words with me."

"See! You can't even understand such simple words!"

Lucas takes mock offense, both of them don't take the insults between them seriously because they know that the other was kidding and that this is all just friendly banter. Lucas takes his hand out of the umbrella's cover and allows the rain to fill his hand with rainwater, he then flicks his wrist to launch the water towards Farkle. The latter squeals at the coldness of the water then glared at Lucas who was very smug about what he just did.

Farkle continues to glare at the smug boy and suddenly jerks the umbrella away from him, letting the rain pour onto Lucas' head, getting him soaked. Just as he had pulled it away, he pulled it back in to cover the already soaked boy. The two glared at each other.

"You-!"

"You-!"

" _Both of you shush!_ " Maya fiercely whispered.

Both boys looked at her in confusion, she only let out a 'shh' gesture as a response. She stepped closer to the two and whispered softly, " _Do you guys hear that?_ " She questions.

The three perked up their ears, straining them to hear what Maya had heard. A shroud of silence surrounds them, they only hear the raindrops impacting the concrete floor, they were walking through the park so there were barely any car sounds. Then...

A sound of zipper being closed was heard, the three friends tensed up at the sound. They were now in alert mode just in case the source of the sound was someone who had intentions to hurt them. They wouldn't be able to, but that would mean fighting the hostile and risking themselves by revealing what they were.

Farkle tiptoes ahead of the other two, curious at who or what caused the zipper sound. His soft footsteps crunching the wet grass as he approaches the source of the sound near the very large apple tree.

What Farkle saw was not a hostile, instead it was someone they knew. Lying against the tree trunk of the apple tree was Riley, sleeping. She was wearing a purple raincoat, a red duffle bag was beside her while her purple backpack was being hugged by her arms. Her head which was covered by the hood of the raincoat, was leaning to the side against the trunk.

Farkle stands still in silence and in shock, he stays that way until Lucas and Maya had also come to see what or who it was. They round the tree and same as Farkle, they gape at the slumbering brunette girl, all of them stay in silence and in shock. Farkle breaks the silence.

"Shit...is that?" He asks in disbelief and with a wide mouth.

"Oh fuck, it is." Lucas responds, showing the same facial expression.

Maya shakes her head, then turns towards the boys and whisper yells, " _Shut up you two! You idiots are going to wake her up._ "

The god of knowledge raises his hand before starting to crouch down, "I'll carry her!"

However, before Farkle could even lay a hand on her, Lucas had pulled him backwards by his shirt, making him stumble backwards. He walked past Farkle and approached the sleeping brunette.

"I'm stronger here I'll carry her!" He declared, but he was tugged back by Farkle. After regaining his balance, both of them glared at each other.

Meanwhile Maya threw her hands up in exasperation because of the two. To them, trying to convince the other that they should be the one to carry Riley is important. To her, it is way more important to get her away from the rain and into somewhere safe.

"Fuckin- you know what? I'll carry her since you two are busy fighting." The blonde hisses at the two. Farkle and Lucas stop fighting and stare at Maya who was slipping her arms on Riley's back and under her legs, she grunts as she hoists her up and the bags falls from Riley's arms and into the ground with a thump. The blonde blows a stray hair away from her face as she adjusts her hold on Riley who begins to squirm a bit.

Maya leans down as much as she can from her position, and whispers softly with an edge of protectiveness in her voice, "You're safe with me, no one's going to you hurt you ever again."

Her face flushes red when she feels Riley snuggle closer into her as she says those set of words, her whole body is buzzing with content and she couldn't resist pulling the brunette closer to her.

Farkle picks up the umbrella that Maya has dropped and falls in step with the blonde to shield the two girls from the still ongoing rain, though it was weaker now. He looks back and sees that Lucas was just right behind them carrying the bags that were with Riley.

The three divines walk home in silence.

 

  
Riley slowly opens her eyes, she blinks away the sleepiness from her eyes and gazes around the room. Her brain registers that the room she is in is unfamiliar to her. The brunette jolts up, panic etched within her eyes and face. Brown eyes scan the room, looking for something that can give her a hint on where she is.

The blankets that were draped on her were a deep blue shade and so were the pillows. The walls were lined with amazing paintings that she has never seen before in her life, they seem to be original works from the owner of this room. From where Riley was sitting, she could see the hardwood floor. A large wooden cabinet and multiple drawers at her left, a bay window and a few decorative statues sitting on a dresser at her right.

The brunette gazes around in amazement, her eyes land on two huge canvases behind her. Just above the bed, was a gorgeous painting of an apple tree and a beautiful painting of a single peach. She stares at it in awe.

The door creaks open, startling Riley from her thoughts. In panic, she throws over the blanket on herself and lays still on the bed, hoping that the person won't notice. Footsteps slighty echo around the room, disturbing the tense silence. Riley is already finding it hard to breath inside the blanket, the air grows uncomfortably thicker within and she wiggles a bit to at least allow a small amount of air to enter. Unfortunately for Riley, it seems that the person in the room with her notices the movement. Movement in the room seizes for a moment, no one in the room even breathes.  
The brunette tenses up as she hears the footsteps coming nearer, she feels a hand grabbing part of the blanket and Riley dreads for the worst. Behind her closed eyes, light shines through, telling Riley that the person can see her. A few seconds ticked by and the brunette decides to open her eyes and just hope for the best.

She's met with oh so familiar blue orbs, her breath hitches as she gazes into those stunning eyes. Those blue eyes filled with concern, relief and she could see a hint of protectiveness. Riley doesn't know why, but she feels so secured and safe, she sighs contently at the sight of Maya in front of her.

"Riley? Are you okay?" Maya asks, unsure if the girl in front of her is comfortable at this.

The brunette nods dumbly, still mesmerized at the beautiful creature in front of her. She swallows thickly and opens her mouth, however she finds that she can't speak due to her throat being dry.

The blonde's eyes widened in realisation, she blinks and pulls away from their eye contact leaving Riley a bit disappointed. Riley stares as Maya reaches to the bedside table, grabbing the glass of water as the brunette sits up from her position.

"Here, It'll help your...uh throat." She offers the glass to Riley and clears her throat.

Riley accepts the glass in gratitude, mumbling a 'thank you' and gulps down the cool liquid, she wasn't even aware she was this thirsty. The brunette finishes drinking the water and places it back on the bedside table, drips of water dribble down Riley's chin and she wipes them off with her sleeve.

Maya and Riley sit in comfortable silence. The latter looks out of the bay window, there was a tree outside, she doesn't know which kind is it but a tree nonetheless. She could also see sunshine going through the window pane.

' _Sunshine?!_ ' Brown eyes suddenly widen. Maya is startled as Riley scrambles out of the bed and dashes to the bay window, looking out of it if her eyes were deceiving her.

"Quick! What time is it?" She asks quickly. The blonde looks around the room before pulling out her phone from her pocket and inspects the time.

"Uh... 7:30 AM. Why?" Maya was getting confused, why was Riley asking for the time?

"I have class at eight!"

Maya mentally slaps herself, she forgot that Riley still goes to college. She stands up and points towards the closet on the other side of the room. "I...uh...placed your clothes in there, you should see them right away."

She watches in amusement as Riley sprints to the dresser and grabs some clothes, the blonde's face grew warmer and became red when the brunette started to take off her clothes right there. Maya turns around with a massive blush on her face at the actions of the the girl. She waits for about five minutes before turning back again.

Riley was now sporting a grey NYU sweatshirt and some black leggings with blue sneakers, she would have worn something else if it weren't for recent events that occured. The brunette fixes her hair up into a ponytail and Maya is left stunned once she turns around to face the blonde. The taller girl rushes to snatch her bag near the closet and rushes towards the door.

"Wait!"

Riley looks over her shoulder, seeing Maya fumble with her pockets and waits in confusion. The blonde takes out a set of car keys from her pockets and walks towards the brunette, the latter stands by the doorway in shock.

"Let me drive you there." They make eye contact as she asks for permission to take the brunette to her college. Riley stands there surprise, seconds later she nods and follows after Maya as she heads downstairs and outside the house.

As she walks through the house, she sees framed pictures and she sees one hanging by the wall with all Maya's friend and Maya herself in the photo. She feels as if there was something missing, like someone or something missing that was suppose to go in the photo. Riley shakes her head, scolding herself for thinking that something was missing in a photo that wasn't even hers, she exits out of the house, pulls the door close and heads towards the car that was parked out front.

During the drive to NYU, Maya wanted to ask a few questions regarding on why she was sleeping under an apple tree last night, but she wasn't sure if the brunette was ready to open up yet or answer questions at the moment and Maya doesn't really want to chase her away, she would rather help her and get closer with her so that Riley would open up to her in the future.

The blonde stops the car by the campus, she watches as Riley leaves the car and closes the passenger door gently. She calls out to her before she could get out of hearing range.

"Hey Riley, what time does your class end?" Maya plans on picking Riley up after her class finishes, she hopes that the brunette won't oppose to it.

"Uh...W-why?" Riley stutters, attempting to supress a blush.

"So I can pick you up, duh." The blondes states it as if it was obvious, Maya smirks as she spots a blush creeping on Riley's face.

Riley thinks on this of course, she really doesn't want to bother Maya and her friends, but on the other hand, Charles was probably roaming the area hunting for her. She nods at the decision.

"M-my class ends at around noon," She says to the blonde, "I-I mean if y-you wa-want to of co-course." Riley stammers, she didn't want to burden the blonde.

Instead of taking back her offer, Maya grins at the brunette, "Great! I'll see you at 12." She waves at Riley then she drives off.

Riley stands there, wondering what the hell just happened. She shakes her head and giggles to herself, this just might be a start of a wonderful friendship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, I'm just winging this. It might have been a mess.
> 
> All grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes are mine. My fault.  
> Criticism and Input is very much appreciated.


	6. Comfort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things just suddenly got heated, and it's in a bad way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> School started about 3 weeks ago? 2 weeks? And things suddenly got busy, so my apologies. Also I'll write the next chapter during weekends since that's when I usually have free time.  
> Anyways enjoy! (I should probably start the action... or maybe I already did?)

Maya placed her arm halfway out of her car window and tapped a rhythm on the car door, humming to "Perfect Two/I'm Yours" mashup. She doesn't know why but the weather has been rainy lately in New York City, luckily today was just drizzling. She doesn't hate it, she just doesn't like the fact that when she's walking around, she only has one hand that is free.

The blonde snatches her phone that was on the dashboard and inspects the time. She reads that it was 12:15 noon, but her eyes isn't seeing Riley anywhere on the area. She scans the surrounding area one more time before taking deep breaths to calm herself and driving off to find a parking space.

After closing the door with a bit more force than intended, Maya stalked towards the science building with her fists tightly clenched by her sides. The blonde isn't mad at Riley at all, in fact she was furious that Riley -a girl that she knows that doesn't like to be late- is late, and if she discovers whoever or whatever made her late, the blonde is going to give them a piece of her mind.

Maya stops a few students to see if they've seen a brown-haired girl with a ponytail and a grey NYU sweatshirt, she should have worded it properly, but surprisingly people knew who Riley Matthews was and pointed the blonde to the right direction.

From what Maya has heard, they say that Riley takes dual majors, Botany and Zoology. That fact makes Maya's heart clench in pain, she feels as if someone had just pierced her own spear through her chest. Riley being so familiar to her godlike counterpart makes the blonde love her even more and Maya feels more protective of the brunette than ever.

She spots a student exiting what looks like a botany classroom, she speedwalks to the person.

"Excuse me?" The redhead turns around with a questioning stare. "You know Riley Matthews yeah?" Maya asks in a hurry. The redhead nods slowly, still confused on why this blonde was asking for one of the best botany students.

"Can you tell me if you've seen her?"

The redhead fully turns around with an explanation. "Uh..yeah, I saw her talking with a guy outside here, it looked kinda intense to be honest," Maya tensed at the sentence, there was a high chance that the person had bad intentions.

"If you're looking for Riley Matthews, they headed that way." She pointed down further down the corridor, "If I were you, I would hurry. I have a bad feeling about him." Maya thanked the redhead multiple times and began to dash.

Maya's heart pounded against her chest as she sprinted through the corridor, heavens help her if she doesn't make it and save Riley, if she is in trouble.

The blonde slows down to a jog when she hears a sound of struggling in a room, she eventually stops in front of a wooden door with a window that allows a view into the room. What she saw made her blood boil.

A guy around 6 feet 12 inches had Riley Matthews pinned to a wall, one of his hands gripping at the collar of the sweatshirt and the other sliding towards the hem of her sweatshirt. From Maya's view, she assumes that his face is as close to the brunette's, and she could see that Riley had tears rushing down her face. However, the last straw for Maya was the fact that she could a large bruise blossoming on the brunette's cheek.

At that point, Maya was fiddling with the door knob, but found that it was locked. She growled in frustration as she attempted to break the wooden door down. She stopped trying to break it down and stepped back.

Maya's eyes flared with ange- no, _rage_ , rage was a more appropriate word for her emotion, she refuses to let Riley be in further pain. She shut her eyes and focused. She could feel the sensation of her ocean blue eyes changing colour, she opened her eyes, it had changed into icy blue ones and it seemed like it glowed. The blonde allowed her godlike energy to flow within her. She felt as if she could take on the whole world, take on anyone who dares stand in her way.

Her yellow aura surrounded her, waving and pulsing with energy. Her fingers were twitching to release the pent up energy. Between the fingers, energy jumped between them, waiting to be released. She stood by the door, lifted her foot up and had kicked the classroom door open with one kick.

The door had slammed into the wall with a loud bang, startling the two people inside the classroom. Riley's eyes had widened at the sight of the blonde at the doorway of the classroom, she blinked multiple times to make sure that her dizzy brain wasn't playing tricks on her. She would have cried tears of joy if it weren't for the fact that pain was radiating off of her cheek and her backside, plus she thinks that she's on the brink of unconciousness.

Charles was in front of her, facing Maya, he's furious though, because the blonde had interrupted their 'session'. That's what Charles had called it when he had roughly grabbed her outside of her classroom and dragged her to this one. She shuddered as she imagines what would have happened if Maya hadn't come through the door.

Meanwhile, Maya stalked towards the boy who was protecting his prey, her face showed indifference, but her eyes showed anger, rage, and if looks could kill, the boy would have been dead by now.

Charles crossed his arms, "Uh...Who the fuck are you?" He raised an eyebrow. "You're kind of interrupting something here." He gestured to himself and Riley behind him.

" _Interrupting_ something? Well I'm _sorry_ ," Maya spits, her voice dripped with heavy sarcasm. "But it looks like she's _not_ enjoying it, from what I see from here."

"It's not any of your damn business and well, the door's right behind you. So go." He waved her off, turning around to finish what he was doing, but he was spun back around by some force.

"What th-"

He was being held by his shirt by the blonde, his eyes widened at the sound of what seems to be growling originating from the blonde's throat. The blonde yanked him forward, his face close to hers. He could see the icy blue eyes glowing, he gulped and he attempted to act tough.

"Listen here _asshole_ ," Maya growled, "I don't know _who_ you think you are, but you have no. _Fucking_. Right."

Maya then shoved Charles, making him stumble back. He regained his balance and tried to intimidate the blonde in front of him, he towered over her, but to no avail, she was undeterred.

"I can do whatever I want to her," he claimed, nearing his face on hers. "She's my _bitch_ a-"

He was cut off by a punch in the face. Maya was taking deep breaths, her jaw set hard and she was glaring down at Charles as he clutched at his nose. blood was splattered on the ground and blood was dripping from his hands.

Maya loomed over him and had kicked him in the stomach for a last measure, he balled himself due to the pain. She scoffed at the sight of his patheticness.

Her eyes widened, she began to spin around to scan the room if there were other hostiles in the classroom, her face softened when her eyes landed on the brunette leaning against the wall. Her heart jumped at the sight of Riley breathing in shallow breaths.

She rushed towards the brunette and kneeled beside her, she inspected Riley for any more injuries. Other than the bruise on her cheek, she also spotted a red mark on her arm while Riley not-so-subtly moved her hand to hide it from Maya, however the blonde had seen it.

"Hey, it's okay, just let me see it, please?" The two girls made eye contact. They held it before Riley slowly but surely nodded and reluctantly showed Maya the arm with the red mark.

Maya tried to suppress the anger for the boy groaning in pain on the floor of the classroom, she really did. She had to take deep breaths to just calm herself a little.

" _How dare he?!_ " She thought as she allowed her aura to turn her hand slighty cold. She bit her lip as she ghosted the chilled hand over the mark, feeling guilty when Riley released sharp intake of air from the sudden coldness.

"Your hand is cold." Riley's face gradually turns crimson, it goes unnoticed.

Maya bites her lip even harder, "M'sorry." She mumbles, her eyes trained on the red mark on the arm. Her jaw is still clamped tightly, still trying to convince herself to not kill Charles right here, right now.

"It's okay, it's feels nice."

Riley closes her eyes, relishing the feeling of Maya's chilly hand -probably from the weather- on her arm. She sighs contently, enjoying the presence of the blonde.

The sound of movement makes her jolt, her eyes dart left and right and her mind panics. She calms down when she only sees Maya beginning to stand up. The blonde grabs both of her hands then slowly helped the brunette stand up. It was slow, sure, but it was better slow than painful.

Riley made an effort to hold in a whimper, she hoped that it went unnoticed, her body was sore and she felt... dirty. She shudders, the sensation of chills lingering on her spine. She instinctively wrapped her arms around her. Pain still radiating from her cheek and she's also pretty sure that the swelling will reach her eyes.

She felt an arm draping over her shoulder, she tenses of course, she was never used to contact. Realising that the arm belonged to Maya, she relaxes, allowing the warmth to just flow from the arm to her body. The blonde pulls her closer and Riley suddenly the scent of peaches and paint, not the awful chemical paint smell, but the smell of art or something equivalent to that, invades her nose. She inhales deeply, wanting to engrave the smell within her mind.

A groan pulls Riley out of her thoughts, both girls look back where Charles was lying, they see him attempting to stand up.

His face was a mess, blood splattered on his face as well as on the ground, he grits his teeth as he speaks. "Hide... all you want Riley, I'll always... find you." He grunts before he collapses back on the floor.

Riley stood there frozen, his words ringing in her ears. She feels like her mind is going to collapse on itself. Her knees shake, threatening to bring her down. She feels queasy, her stomach churns and she feels bile coming up her throat.

A soft whisper brings her out of her panicking mind and body, she feels the arm draped over her shoulder tighten its hold, she gazes into Maya's eyes and she feels comforted. The blue eyes tell Riley all she needed right now, 'you're safe', 'I'm here', somewhere along those lines.

The two girls turn around and started heading towards the slightly splintered wooden door. They walk out of the classroom with Maya's arm still protectively draping over Riley's shoulder, which calms her down.

Riley glances back towards the door, ' _Maya sure did a number on that door,_ ' she thinks. As they walk through the corridor, Riley swears that she heard the sound of cleaning inside the classroom, but she dismisses it, thinking that it was just probably in her mind.

What Riley failed to hear or see, was that Maya had snapped her fingers when their backs had turned away from the scene, the blonde had manipulated some cleaning supplies to clean up the blood and among other things that were out of place, leaving only Charles lying on the floor with blood on his face.

 

  
After stopping by to pick up the bag that Riley had dropped when she had been dragged, they headed outside. The rain had not picked up, it stayed drizzling, so Riley simply placed her sweatshirt hood over her head and Maya had draped her leather jacket over hers. Both girls were chatting with each other, the blonde's arm still over the brunette's shoulder, they eased into a simple conversation.  
  
Whenever Maya sensed that Riley was thinking back on what had happened in the classroom, she would successfully divert the subject into something more pleasant. She would even mentally high-five herself whenever she made the brunette laugh, giggle or smile. The blonde even swears that she could see the brunette blush when a smile -hers especially- was directed her way.

Maya's smile would slightly falter due to the dark purple bruise on Riley's cheek, the blonde would bite the inside of her cheek and clench her fist when her eyes would land on the mark, she was just glad that she was able to stop the asshole in time. She runs a hand through her blonde hair and she swears she heard Riley's breath hitch for a split second.

By the time they reached the parked car, they were ready to get out of the drizzling rain and into the car. Before Riley could touch the handle of the passenger door, Maya had already opened it.

"Ma'am," the blonde bowed, prompting a giggle from the brunette.

Riley pretended to have a skirt and bowed politely with a smile as well. "Thank you miss."

As soon as Riley had entered the car, Maya had rushed around and got in on her side of the car. She backed out of the parking spot and began to drive.

Silence filled the vehicle and obviously Riley didn't want to talk about what had happened, for now, so all Maya could do was drive at the moment. A growl resounded from Riley's side of the car, the brunette blushed and wrapped an arm on her stomach to prevent the stomach from protesting about lack of food any further.

Maya chuckled, "Wanna grab lunch? I'm pretty hungry too." She grins at the brunette.

Mesmerised at the blonde beauty beside her, all Riley could do was shyly nod in response.

"Great! I know a good pizza place."

 

  
Riley tries, she _really_ tries to hide her bruised cheek, yet people still notice it. The whispers, the whispers she hears are probably in her head, then there's shouting, she knows that voice anywhere and it has been following her ever since she escaped to a different part of New York City. It's been okay, she's been safe, but the shouting and the whispers ring in her ears.

She tries really hard to cover her cheek, but her and Maya had stopped walking on the way to the pizza place, after she parked the car, and sat on a bench nearby. The blonde had held her hand, her thumb rubbing back and forth on Riley's back of the hand. She relaxes of course, because that's the effect Maya has on her, she knows that she's safe with the blonde, she somehow knows that the blonde would never hurt her, and she doesn't.

They talked on the bench, with Riley consciously to shield the bruise from other people's eyes. Maya stared at her for a moment before bringing up a hand to lower Riley's to her side, the blonde smiles.

"Hey, you don't have to cover it up. It's okay, you're okay." Maya said. "You'll be safe, he won't come near you as long as I'm here."

The blonde had hugged Riley, and that had been the red button to Riley. She cried, she allowed all her tears to go free. She sobbed into the blonde's shoulder, she let her pent up feelings go. She had never informed her friend, Darby, about the problems that she had, about being paranoid that Charles will eventually find her and do things to her, because Riley thought that she would just abandon her just like the others. The sobs died down, all were left were sniffling and the constant rubbing on her back. They sit there on the bench and Maya waits until Riley is ready.

Once Riley had completely calmed down, she had told Maya that she was okay now. The blonde was skeptical, but was willing to let it go for now, so they stood up and continued walking to the good pizza place the blonde was talking about.

They had arrived at the pizza place, Riley hadn't caught the name of it though. She was kind of spacing out when they had entered the place.

"Riley? Any pizza preference?" Maya asked, not noticing her spacing out.

Riley responded with a shake of her head, "Huh? Oh, anything is fine."

"Okay, so I'll order the pizza and the drinks. You can go find any seat you want."

The brunette nods and starts to look around the place, her gaze lands on a table by the store window, she contemplates then nods to herself. She sits on one of the chairs and stares at the outside world through the window.

She stares into the outside, the trees slightly sway from the breeze, people walking by with umbrellas over their heads. It's such a simple scenery for a place like New York really. Cars pass by, taxis as well, often motorcycles pass by as well. So many things can happen all at once and that's what scares Riley.

So many things happen all at once and no one will even notice what would happen to her. Before she had moved here, she was known as the sunshine girl, the girl who was always happy, the girl who was never broken. False, that was the word that would always go through Riley's mind, false.

"Hey, I got the pizzas, hope you like hawaiian." Maya smiles at the brunette only to fall when Riley continues to stare out of the window.

The blonde places down the pizzas and sit down on the opposite chair of Riley, she stays silent and places her hand over Riley's. The brunette blinks and stares at the pale hand laid on top of her own, Riley tiredly smiles at Maya then she gets a comforting smile in response.

Maya tightens her hold on Riley's hand, "We can eat and talk at the same time if you want. Take your time." She states. She stares at the warm brown orbs in front of her, they look warm but Maya now knows that they're actually broken on the inside.

With those words, Riley nods with tears brimming in her eyes. They stay silent for a while, the blonde serving the brunette, pizza slices on her plate while still holding her hand.

She has never told anyone this because she was afraid they won't care and leave her, but Maya, so far, has saved her, gave her time, and has been there for her even if they had just known each other for a while. This time, she'll try. She'll try, because somehow she knows that Maya will stay and listen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes are mine. My fault.  
> Criticism and Input is very much appreciated.  
> Do tell if the story is getting a bit soggy? If so, I should be able to adjust it a bit.

**Author's Note:**

> All grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes are mine. My fault.  
> Criticism and Input is very much appreciated.


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